Imagine that planet Earth is a corporation with many indispensable branches called Earth Inc. After completing a pro forma balance sheet for the Earth Inc, I mulled over what might be said to a group of investors who were contemplating acquiring that entity.
It was very clear that Earth Inc was in a downward spiral and that a substantial portion of the annual operating profit was now being derived by liquidating assets that were essential for its continued operations. To correct the existing problems, and make the entity viable, it would realistically take decades and require injecting hundreds of trillions of dollars.
It followed that there were only two rational options. The first option would be to declare Chapter 11 bankruptcy and then reorganise. The second option would be to liquidate the remaining assets to the point where the entity folded. And, in the event that the prospective investors chose the second option, they would be faced with the question of what Earth Inc was worth?
In early May (2024), that question was finally answered by no less than Donald J. Trump. At a Mar-a-Lago Club event for oil industry executives, Trump announced that if the industry raised $1 billion for his Presidential campaign, he would remove all the regulations pertaining to their emissions, seismic ocean surveying, pipelining, shipping, fracking, oil welling, coal mining, wastewaters, wood pellitising and logging industries imposed during the Biden administration.
Reversal of the existing U.S. environmental policies would at best accelerate the demise of Earth Inc and at worst directly lead to near-term species extinction, as per thousands of the finest consultants available. We now know what Earth Inc (our only home) is worth, according to Donald J. Trump, a self-proclaimed genius, and by default all those who would vote to elect him into office.
Agitate. Disrupt. Defend.
Reese Halter is a bees/trees/seas defender.
Unearthly Wails is a special edition, a collection of poetry
illustrated by renowned Ojibwa artist Terry McCue.
Email: HalterBooks@gmail.com to order
